Mistletoe
by Nuke1
Summary: Everybody's getting together for a Christmas celebration!! But... some people aren't having a very merry holiday. Can miracles some true? Warning- I don't like Rinoa! A little bit o' yaoi ahead as well. Enjoy ^_^


Disclaimer- I don't own any of the ff8 characters or concepts. Nope.

Mistletoe

A small smile crossed Rinoa's gentle features as she tied the bow around Squall's present. It had taken her hours to find just the right thing to give her true love for Christmas, and she was certain he would love this. With tender care, she wrote 'To: _Squally , _From: _Rinny' _on the small tag positioned in the top corner of the small package. Holding it at arm's length, her smile broadened as she thought of the look on Squall's face when he opened it. Breaking away from her daydream, Rinoa glanced at the clock.

"Better, hurry," She said to herself, "Don't want to be too late for the Christmas Party." The party started at 8 o' clock at it was already 7:30. If she was lucky, she would only be fashionably late. Rinoa wanted to look absolutely stunning tonight. With a girlish giggle she pulled out the red dress she was going to wear, placed it across her bed and began to comb her hair.

***

Meanwhile.......

Zell nearly toppled over as he struggled with the tight, black boots he had been forced to wear tonight. Selphie had somehow managed to convince him that being Santa this year was a good idea. Zell frowned at the thought. It wasn't that he minded being Santa Clause for the kids, but he knew that this would only enforce his appearance as a clown. And for once in his life, Zell had wanted to be serious. He wanted nothing more than to impress his crush. But with this get-up, he doubted he would ever win their attention.

"Darn that Selphie...." he mumbled and carefully donned his Santa cap, barely managing to avoid the small spike of hair atop his head. Stepping in front of his mirror he regarded his rather sloppy appearance. With a scowl that was worthy of the grinch rather than Santa he huffed out of his dorm room to ask Quistis for a little help.

***

Deep in the recesses of Squall's dorm.......

A groan of misery was heard from the shadows. Squall Leonhart managed to pull himself from his bed. He was absolutely dreading tonight's party. The yelling kids, the bright lights, the cheery people. None of this was to his tastes. He would much rather spend Christmas battling a few monsters in the training center. But, he had promised Rinoa that he would show up. And as much as he wanted to, he could not break a promise to Rinoa. Squall let out a long breath of air as he thought of her. She was one of the sweetest people he knew, but she was so damn clingy. Squall hardly managed 3 seconds out of the day for himself. Being commander was, of course, a big responsibility, but Rinoa didn't seem to realize that. She would give Squall time to himself if he requested it, but he knew that it would hurt her deeply. And he couldn't bare to see her in pain, emotional or otherwise. Adding to Squall's not so jolly Christmas was the fact that he had just recently noticed someone else. This someone was starting to play on his mind almost constantly. The problem was, he just couldn't bring himself to say no to Rinny. She was so innocent, almost child-like. Perhaps that was why he wasn't able to build a deeper relationship with her. It had started out romantically enough, but now, he felt more like a big brother than anything else.

"Well, no use thinking about it now. I'm gonna be late for the party." Squall slid into his old jacket, as he wasn't going to stay long and didn't want to dress up. And so, after running a hand through his silky hair, Squall headed downstairs for the party from Hell.

***

Zell, Selphie, and Quistis hurried around the room, trying to get all of the food out onto the tables and all the kid's presents under the huge tree they had set up in the front hall. Irvine was helping to organize the under-classmen so that they didn't run each other over. Yet another job that he had been forced to undertake by Selphie. Irvine grimaced as a herd of children ran over his foot.

"I'm gonna get you for this, Selph..." he mumbled under his breath and managed to regain his composure.

*

"Whoa! Only one request at a time, I'm not a magician, ya know?!" Raijin's unmistakable voice could be heard over-top of the 'joyful and triumphant' Christmas music. He was the 'D.J' for the day, taking Christmas song requests. Kids were piled around him trying to be next in line. Raijin growled a little as he noticed Seifer and Fujin snickering in the corner. They had refused to participate, being the smarter two in their group of three. But when Selphie had asked him to participate, Raijin thought it might be fun. He had been seriously wrong. Fujin smiled smugly as she weaved her way through the crowd and stood next to Raijin.

"FUN?" 

"Hmph. That Selphie's gonna pay for this, ya know?" He replied and pulled out the next C.D. that had been requested.

*

Zell finally stopped to rest after he had pinned the last piece of mistletoe overtop of the benches that surrounded the fountain in the front hall of the garden. He walked over to one of the many bowls of punch and poured himself a cup. Being Santa was thirsty work. And the beard wasn't the most comfortable thing in the world. Zell leaned against the table and watched all the excited kids. It had been well worth the trouble to see them happy, and his crush hadn't even come down from the dorm rooms yet. But, just as Zell thought he was in the clear, Squall descended the stairs and headed towards the party.

'Oh well, so much for the dignified approach..' Zell thought glumly and watched Squall as he stood at the bottom of the stairs and looked through the crowd.

*

'Where is Rinoa?' Squall asked himself as he did a visual sweep of the room in an attempt to spot his girlfriend.

*

Quistis and Selphie stopped bustling about long enough to see Squall enter the room. Their eyes then moved over Zell long enough to see him sigh and bow his head.

"Poor guy," Selphie whispered, "looks like he'll be spending Christmas alone...." Quistis nodded solemnly before an idea came to her.

"Maybe not..." She answered and a smile replaced her frown. 

*

Squall strolled casually over to Zell and mumbled a quick "Hi," before passing him by and sitting 

down on a nearby bench.

*

Selphie nodded and giggled as Quistis whispered the rest of her plan. They both nodded at each other before heading towards Zell.

"Hey Zell, how goes the Santa gig?" Selphie asked as she leaned against the table next to Zell. Quistis took up the space opposite Selphie.

"You look a little down, what's wrong?" 

"Nothing, just a little tired is all," Zell replied and yawned to emphasize this point. He gulped down the rest of his drink and crumpled the cup. "Well guys, I gotta get back to work. Santa's a busy man, ya know?" With that, he headed back over to the tree to hand out presents.

*

"Darn... we'll have to try Squall..." Selphie murmured. "If only Rinoa will stay up in her room a little longer...."

"Yeah. Although, I do feel bad about giving her the boot," Quistis admitted, "She doesn't even realize what's about to happen..."

"Well, think of this way Quisty, Squall and Zell have been pining after each other for awhile, though neither of them will admit it, and they'll be happier this way. Besides, we can't let an outsider ruin their chances of being together." Selphie finished her sentence with a nod, as if to assure herself that this was the right thing to do.

"Whose chances of being together?" Came a soft voice. Quistis and Selphie looked up to see Rinoa standing before them. They had been so involved in their conversation that they hadn't heard or seen her approach.

"Just some friends of ours Rin. You wouldn't know them." Quistis replied, a little too sharply. Rinoa frowned at her tone of voice and Selphie spoke up.

"Quisty isn't insulting you Rin, she means you haven't been here long enough to know everyone." Rinoa was apparently satisfied with Selphie's answer because the smile she usually wore returned to her face and she glanced around the room hurriedly.

"Have either of you seen Squall? He promised to meet me down here. I hope he didn't decide to stay in his dorm room..." She trailed off.

"Sorry Rin," Quistis remarked and moved to the side to block Squall from the raven haired teen's view, "I haven't seen him at all. And we've been keeping track of everyone that comes in. He must have been tired and decided to stay in tonight..."

"Oh....well, I guess I'll wait around and see if he shows up." She smiled once more at the two women and headed towards the Christmas tree to place her gifts there. Selphie smiled and nudged Quistis.

"Maybe we can get this to work after all...."

*

"Hey Zell, nice hat." Rinoa giggled and pulled the fluffy white tip of Zell's hat out of his face. He looked up and managed a smile.

"Hey there Rin. How come you're not with Squall?" Zell asked with a confused face. He noticed Quistis and Selphie motioning to him frantically to be quiet.

"Well, Quisty said he wasn't here. I'm hoping maybe he's still getting ready and just hasn't come down yet." She watched as a small child tugged on Zell's fake beard and giggled.

"Hey! Cut that out, Jessie!" he tickled the small girl and picked her up to sit on his lap. Turning his attention to Rinoa he answered, "Well, I just saw....." he trailed off as Selphie made a slicing throat motion. "I mean, I uh, haven't seen him either. You know how Squall is..."

"Yeah, all too well," Rinoa rolled her eyes and handed her gift to Zell, "Well, this is for you, I'm gonna go mingle." She smiled and waved bye to the little girl as she walked towards Raijin. 

Selphie quickly ran to Zell as he was placing the small child back on the floor. She tapped his shoulder and leaned down to whisper in his ear. Quistis smiled as she saw Zell's face brighten when Selphie motioned in Squall's direction.

"So, that's why you practically killed yourself trying to shut me up," Zell smiled as he looked up at Selphie.

"Yeah, you big goof. Now get over there and say hi before Rinoa finds him and hogs him all night!" She pinched Zell's cheek and shooed him away from the Santa seat. She turned to the awaiting children, "Sorry kids, Santa will be right back. I'll bring one of his elves over here until he gets back."

*

Irvine groaned as Selphie dragged him to yet another group of children. "Selph!! I just want to sit down, drink some eggnog and cuddle up under a nice warm blanket."

"I promise you can do all that AFTER the party, and maybe you'll have someone to cuddle up with if you're a good boy." Selphie winked. Irvine grinned broadly and obediently sat in the Santa seat.

"I'm gonna hold you to that you little elf," He gave her a quick kiss before she ran off to continue working.

*

Zell breathed deeply before working up the nerve to walk over to Squall and sit next to him. He coughed softly and whispered a squeaky, "Hey, Squall," as he proceeded to blush a bright pink. Squall glanced over, expecting to see an under-classman, but Zell was the person that immediately filled his field of vision.

"H-hey Zell. What are you doing here?" Squall's usually frowning mouth, edged up in a small smile.

"Just thought I'd take a break. How come you're not with Rinoa?"

"Haven't seen her. She was the one who practically forced me into this and now she doesn't even show up..." Zell lowered his gaze. he hated lying to Squall, but if he didn't, he would never get what he wanted. He watched with sudden interest as Squall's cheeks also flushed pink, though it was a slightly lighter shade than Zell's tomato colored face.

"Sorry 'bout that Squall. Hey, you don't look too happy... what's up? This is Christmas right? Aren't you supposed to be jolly?" Squall looked into Zell's eyes and smiled a real smile.

"I'm just a little under the weather. I thought miracles were supposed to happen this time of year, but it doesn't look like one is headed my way any time soon..."

"You never know Squally, maybe that miracle is just around the corner!" Zell answered with a broad smile, not because he was happy, but because he hated to see his crush upset. Inside, he was about to burst into tears. This wasn't going the way Selphie had said it would.

"Yeah maybe...." Squall whispered just as Zell noticed the mistletoe above them. He smiled with true happiness. This would prove for once and for all where he stood with Squall. If he asked and Squall laughed, he could say he was joking. Zell was, after all, the barrel of laughs. But maybe, just maybe....Squall wouldn't laugh....

***

Rinoa chuckled softly as she watched Raijin fighting off the mob of children surrounding him. One was attached to his leg and another was pulling on his hand.

"Having trouble, Raijin?" She laughed again as he looked up at her with a pleading face.

"Kids are a handful, ya know?" 

"Yeah, I know what you mean. I'll help you out.." Another giggle escaped her lips as she pried a child away and shooed him off to play. As she did this, Rinoa happened to notice Squall and Zell sitting on the bench at the far side of the garden. _I thought Zell said he hadn't seen Squall...._ she thought to herself. _Maybe he just got here..._

"Hey Raijin, I'll be right back. I'm going to say hi to Squall." She said quickly and began to walk towards her love.

***

"Hey Squall," Zell waited until he had the darker haired boy's attention, "Look up," Squall glanced above his head and noticed the mistletoe, his face turned a red at least seven shades darker than it previously had been.

"Oh, mistletoe..." He mumbled and suddenly found that the floor was the most interesting thing in the world.

"So, how 'bout a kiss for Santa?" Squall jerked his head up at that and looked at Zell who, for once, wasn't laughing._ Is he serious? This can't be happening....... miracles don't come true.... oh, screw it, I can't hide forever. _Squall licked his lips nervously and prepared to make his move. Zell watched as his miracle unfolded right before his eyes. Squall leaned forward, awaiting a kiss. Tears of happiness almost escaped the blonde boy's eyes as he closed the gap between himself and his crush, Their lips met in a soft and gentle touch. They both sighed at the same time and smiled against each other's lips. The kiss deepened momentarily and they finally pulled away to stare into each other's eyes.

"Zell, I...."

"Squall, I...." The both of them attempted to explain their actions immediately. Their eyes widened as they realized they shared mutual feelings for one another.

"Maybe....maybe miracles do come true..." Squall murmured softly as he leaned forward again for another kiss. Zell grinned before giving in to temptation once more. The joy that surrounded them was almost visible. Engulfed in passion, neither of them heard the surprised and horrified cry that echoed across the Garden's Hall. Not everyone was going to have a Merry Christmas.

***

A/N- Well, people. I told you that I didn't like Rinoa. And I KNOW this story was a little rushed but I've been busy.... But whew, I just managed to post it up before Christmas. So, leave me a review and tell me what you think. ^___^

~~~nukE


End file.
